The present invention relates to an apparatus for the balance training of athletes and, more particularly, for the balance training of “cheer flyers” in the field of cheerleading.
Cheerleading is an increasingly popular sport that has evolved over time to demand the strength, balance and body coordination more commonly associated with sports like gymnastics. The rise of gymnastic-like movements in cheerleading, however, has also correlated with a dramatic increase in the number of cheerleading-related injuries. For example, the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Columbus Children's Research Institute (Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio) reported in a study published in 2006 that the number of cheerleading-related injuries more than doubled during the 13-year study period. The study's authors called for improved safety of the sport through the implementation of rules and regulations and safety certification for coaches.
Improved training devices and methods that teach proper technique can also work to prevent injury. One of the more injury-prone positions in cheerleading is the “cheer flyer” or flyer. A flyer is the person at the top of the cheerleading formation that is supported by the “cheer bases” and then lifted or thrown in the air. While the flyer requires a number of skills—including a respect for heights, core body strength, and ankle, knee and hip strength—one key skill is balance. Balance is important because it is much more difficult for the bases to hold up the flyer if the flyer is wiggling around or shifting his or her weight. In addition, the flyer often has to support his- or herself on one leg while being lifted in the air and then perform a jump or tumbling maneuver from this position.
Various training devices have been developed and sold commercially to assist a flyer in improving his or her balance. These devices, which also attempt to improve the flyer's strength, include balls and boards, discs and air-filled discs having arc-shaped bottom surfaces. Many of these devices attempt to mimic the feel of the flyer being supported by the base. The devices, however, fail to accomplish this feel for a variety of reasons. Some of the devices provide too large of an area for the foot or require that both feet be used, as is the case with U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,743, issued to Lie on Apr. 9, 1985 (“the Lie patent”). Other devices fail to provide sufficient height above the floor. Still others provide a balancing element that does not behave in a manner similar to that of a base when supporting a flyer or fail to provide a mounting experience analogous to that encountered by a flyer (see, for example, the Lie patent). More importantly, these devices fail to require the proper body alignment as that needed while in the air and supported by a base. The devices also fail to allow for training of more advanced body positions such as the “Liberty,” in which the flyer's leg is bent with one or two arms in a V-position, the “Heel Stretch,” in which the bent leg is held straight up with the flyer's hand, and the “Bow and Arrow,” in which the flyer's other arm crosses the leg being held straight up.